Despite its name, the New Forest isn’t a densely forested area. Yes, there are plenty of trees but also wide open spaces of heathland. The name is historic, dating back to the Domesday Book of 1086. Back then it was the Nova Foresta, declared a royal hunting forest by William the Conqueror.
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Water is an essential element for sustaining life. It provides a habitat for a diverse array of organisms, both in freshwater and in the sea. Aquatic plants, in particular, exhibit a remarkable diversity of form. Some plants thrive underwater, their delicate fronds swaying gently with the currents, while others display their vibrant colours on the water's surface.
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One of the pleasures of an addiction to photography is that you start to see photos wherever you look! And by look, I mean REALLY look. While it’s wonderful to be able to photograph sweeping landscapes, iconic buildings, wild (and not so wild) animals, interesting people … look closer and you will find even more subjects.
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While many people think that black cats bring bad luck, for some reason as a child I was always taught the opposite. If a black cat crossed my path it would bring good luck. So sure of this was I that I would sometimes alter my route to try to ensure that the cat’s trajectory and my own would definitely intersect!
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There is something very intriguing about ferns. Almost prehistoric in nature, it is easy when among them to imagine dinosaurs walking the earth. Unsurprising perhaps, as these often-beautiful plants actually predate those dinosaurs!
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For me this past June has been one of more than usually changeable weather. I started the month inside the Arctic Circle where in the first few days of meteorological summer the temperature didn’t rise above six or seven degrees Celsius and was often colder than that. I then returned to a London going into its first heatwave of the summer, hitting thirty degrees on a couple of days. Towards the end of the month the temperature dropped to the more usual, and comfortable, low to mid-twenties.
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Cacti are hard to ignore. They grow where little else will and if you happen to touch one you’ll probably find it even harder to ignore!
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When you come back from a trip you have tales to tell. You may start by describing the big stuff, the famous sights you saw: the Taj Mahal perhaps or the Eiffel Tower. But what often remains in the memory long afterwards are the small happenings that punctuate a trip. Those are the stories that you will return to again and again …
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I wonder how many hours I have spent in total, my camera at the ready, hovering over a flower as a bee does and waiting to be able to capture said bee in a half-decent shot? More times than not I fail, but whenever I succeed I get a thrill. Or, dare I say, a buzz?!
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We are saying goodbye this week to a much-valued member of our blogging community, Bren, who sadly died quite recently. Her photography blog has long been a favourite of mine, and an inspiration in my own photographic experiments. Her creative, atmospheric monochrome shots and beautiful soft-focus flowers were always a pleasure to view.
